God, Religion, and the Bible

Usually I write about politics, but since it is Easter weekend, I thought I would make an exception. Today I’m going to discuss my views on religion. I usually avoid writing about religion because religion is a touchy subject. Internet discussions on religion generally end in insults and flame wars. If you are easily offended when people disagree with you, I suggest you turn back now.

Bible

First of all, I am not a Christian, nor am I an Atheist. Usually in western society that statement throws a lot of people into confusion. They don’t realize there is something in the middle. But there is. My religious beliefs could be described as deism. I fall into the same category as Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and Benjamin Franklin.

I confess to believe in God, but not the Bible.

Why do I believe in God? Science, when analyzed with an open mind, points to the existence of God. There are a few fundamental flaws with an atheistic view of the world’s creation. They start with the acceptance of The Big Bang Theory being the start of the universe. The problem with The Big Bang Theory is that it tries to explain the creation of the universe from within the universe. There is no evidence that anything within this universe can create matter, or life. The Big Bang Theory teaches us that nothing began expanding into something. And that it is continuing to expand. The problem is that there is no evidence whatsoever that matter can be created or spring forth from nothing on its own.

The next big issue with the Big Bang Theory is that it assumes that at some point all we had was non-living matter and that at some point life sprang forth from it. The problem here is that we have no evidence that life can come from something that is non-living. In fact, it is quite the contrary. Every living organism on this planet came from another living organism.

Since we know that matter can’t be created within our universe, and we know that life only comes from life. It seems quite logical to assume that whatever created us lies outside our universe. I choose to call this God, and you might choose to call it science that we don’t understand yet.

The Milky Way

Assuming God is the architect of the universe, it seems logical to study his creation in order to see his character. It seems incredibly illogical to assume that the nature of God can be found in a book that any man could write, or in a structure that any man could build. Surely if God wanted to reveal his character, he would do so in a way that is universal.

“Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you. or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?” – Job 12: 7-9

If God was the architect behind the Bible, I would expect the Bible to be as beautiful as a sunset. It is nowhere close. While its pages are full of a lot of good, they are also filled with hate and cruelty.

“What can be greater blasphemy than to ascribe the wickedness of man to the orders of the Almighty” – Thomas Paine

If we want to understand the nature of God, we had best look to his handiwork, and not that which was created by others. So what does nature tell us about God? Here are a few obvious characteristics.

God Dreams Big

The size of our universe is astounding. If the sun was the size of a white blood cell, our galaxy would be the size of the United States.

God is Big on Variety

Just look at the different species of animals, dogs for example. There isn’t just one type of dog. There are thousands of types of dogs. God probably likes variety.

God Supports Recycling

Our planets ecosystem is built on recycling. We breathe in oxygen and eject CO2. The plants breathe in CO2 and release oxygen.

Animals are Important

If God created them, they are probably there for a reason. We should treat them as such until we have evidence to the contrary.

There is a Moral Law

Every human is born with a conscience, with some idea of right and wrong. Our ideas of right and wrong are universal. For example, every society in the world believes murder is wrong, they might disagree on what is considered murder, but the overall morality is the same.

The Bible teaches us that we are supposed to have faith in God. But perhaps the Bible got that wrong. Why would God want or need us to have faith in him? God placed us here, with his creation. Perhaps instead of us having faith in God, God decided to have faith in us. Perhaps he decided to trust us with his creation and to look after one another, instead of him looking after us. Perhaps the purpose of life is a life of purpose.

Shayne is enrolled in Business Information Technologies at Red River College in Winnipeg Manitoba. He has a passion for politics, photography and technology. Born and raised in a small farming community, Shayne believes in small government and personal liberty.

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Hey Shayne, It’s been a while. Probably too long to matter, don’t think we’ve talked in…what a decade and a half? I seem to recall conversations back when we went to Longbow bible camp. I went to http://www.travisthiessen.com/ ,as I’m a friend of your dad, ended up here. I’ve read some of your stuff, and I have some input to offer if you’d let me. I have a lot of experience with deism as a belief system, and have a lot of friends who are/were deists. I have some insights which may help you to further contextualize your beliefs, for… Read more »

Hey man. Thanks for sorting out the posting issue. I’ve read a few of your posts and it’s like looking into the past for me. A little less than a decade ago deism swept through my social group like wildfire. It all started with a liberal arts college and a few friends with an interest in philosophy. My friends, who all were adamantly Christian, one by one came to a crossroad; Deism was the beginning but it didn’t take long before we all shifted in one of two directions. See, it’s easy to prove theism in general, especially from a… Read more »